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HANZO THE RAZOR TRILOGY
Starring: Shintaro Katsu
HANZO THE RAZOR: SWORD OF JUSTICE (1972)
Directed by Kenji Misumi
HANZO THE RAZOR: THE SNARE (1973)
Directed by Yasuzo Masumura
HANZO THE RAZOR: WHO'S GOT THE GOLD? (1974)
Directed by Yoshio Inoue
All with subtitles in English
Reviewed by Jeremy Silman
Watson Scale rating (0 being worst and 6 being perfect): 5.3
Twenty-five years ago a friend told me about a samurai series (he
couldn't remember its name) where sex, nudity, and perversion stood
side by side with interesting stories, solid acting, and nicely created
fight scenes. At first I thought that it was all a product of his
imagination, but ten years later I came across HANZO THE RAZOR and
immediately recognized this as the show my friend alluded to.
HANZO THE RAZOR is a three movie series starring the wonderful Shintaro
Katsu (famous for making the role of ZATOICHI his own). In fact, it was
produced by his company, Katsu Productions, which also did the
legendary LONE WOLF AND CUB series. Here he plays Hanzo Itami, a police
constable in old Edo (Tokyo) who deeply cares for the public he's sworn
to protect, while also hating the corruption that's found in all levels
of government.
Unlike most men of that era who bow to tradition, Hanzo (a magnificent
swordsman) spits in its face. With his two male servants/helpers/slaves
in tow, he will dare anything to solve a case and put the guilty
party(s) behind bars.
In my view, THE SNARE is the best movie of the three, so this is the
one I'll discuss. Like the other films, things begin in outrageous
fashion with a nude Hanzo (in the privacy of his own home/spa)
strengthening his enormous manhood by first dowsing it in hot water,
then placing it on special wood board and beating it with a club, and
finally having intercourse with a huge bag of rice. These things are
reminiscent of the iron hand technique, though in Hanzo's case, hands
have nothing to do with it.
In THE SNARE, Hanzo first has to stop a very strange woman from doing
illegal abortions. After that, a whiff of heavy government corruption
takes him to a sadomasochistic Buddhist nunnery where he arrests a
powerful, bald headed nun so he can interrogate her and find out the
names of the instigators of such perversion. When she refuses to talk
(after being painfully tortured), we get his famous " torture of
pleasure" in which he lays down on his back, has his slaves place the
(now naked) female criminal in a hanging net, and has her lowered upon
him. After a short time, the nun (raped and tortured in the name of
justice) is willing to tell him everything and, in this case, actually
moves in with him!
One would think this would be more than enough to wrap one's mind
around, but Hanzo is barely getting started. He still has to: hide for
weeks at the Shogun's mint so he can catch a vicious group of
rapist/killers/thieves; do ritualistic sepaku (suicide) in front of his
corrupt boss, and have a final to-the-death sword match vs. a highly
skilled enemy.
Hanzo Itami is a rabidly moral man that doesn't hesitate to use highly
immoral methods to create justice in an unjust society. The quirky mix
of dark humor, sex, kink, and old-fashioned samurai battles (replete
with spurting blood) blend seamlessly together to create movies that
will affect different people in different ways. Some will be deeply
offended and/or shocked and disturbed, others will be titillated, while
others may simply laugh out loud and have fun with the satirical
madness.
Personally, I enjoyed most aspects of these films, but what really draws
me to them for multiple viewings are Katsu's depiction of a man at odds
with the times, an outsider who isn't understood by anyone, is feared
by the good guys and the bad, yet symbolizes true moral strength
despite what your eyes/beliefs/upbringing may tell you.
Hanzo the Razor is the anti-hero of all anti-heroes. And, unlike many
films where women use their sex appeal to manipulate men, Hanzo (as fat
and gruff as he might appear to be) uses his overwhelming, very primal
sexuality to terrify men and bend every female to his will.
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